/usr/sbin/sam.
Then enter the Configurable Parameters subarea:
Publication Date: December 1998
Copyright: © Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 1998
Edition: WWW edition, modified 25 November 1998
Parameter Settings for V-Class Commercial Workloads
Creating HP-UX Kernels for V-Class ServersList of Configurable HP-UX Kernel Parameters
This document describes recommended HP-UX V11.0 kernel configurations for HP V-Class servers.
Suggested HP-UX kernel configurations are provided for the following types of V-Class server use:
See "Parameter Settings for V-Class Technical Workloads" for details.
See "Configuring a Dedicated Commercial Server" for details.
See "Configuring a Mixed-Use Commercial Server" for details.
You can perform the HP-UX configuration tasks described here by using the
System Administration Manager (SAM) utility (/usr/sbin/sam) or the
kmtune utility (/usr/sbin/kmtune).
NOTE: For details on configuring kernel parameters using kmtune, see the kmtune(1)
man page. This document only covers using SAM.You can use SAM's Configurable Parameter subarea to perform most of the procedures described in this document. To access this subarea do the following: (1) run SAM, (2) enter the Kernel Configuration area by double-clicking its icon, and (3) double-click the Configurable Parameters icon.
HP-UX configurable kernel parameters specify how system hardware resources are used by HP-UX and the programs and users it supports.
By setting kernel parameters to the values recommended for your type of server use, you can configure HP-UX to make optimal use of your V-Class server.
Settings for configurable HP-UX parameters are initially established when the HP-UX operating system is installed from scratch (for instance, when installing HP-UX 11.0 using Ignite-UX). Parameter settings are preserved when upgrading the operating system.
You can set HP-UX parameters to specific numeric values, or to computed values by specifying formulas. For example, the following are three ways of specifying 8 megabytes: 8388608, 0x800000, and 8*1024*1024.
Several new configurable parameters are available in HP-UX V11.0. These include parameters for adjusting variable page size, support for 64-bit applications, and other new operating system features.
To set parameter values you can either modify individual kernel parameters, or apply a tuned parameter set that modifies several parameter values at once.
SAM also lets you set a kernel's parameter values by copying them from an
existing kernel (such as /stand/vmunix) or a system description file (such as
/stand/system). You can do this in SAM's Configurable Parameters
subarea by selecting the "Actions" menu, then the "Templates" submenu, then
selecting menu items to load and apply kernel values.
You may need to manually change HP-UX parameter settings for HP V-Class servers in the following situations:
After changing configurable kernel parameter values in SAM, you must do the following for the new kernel to take effect:
You can do this automatically by using SAM, or manually by using
kmupdate. If using kmupdate, you also should move the new kernel
configuration file /stand/build/system.SAM to /stand/system.
If you do not have SAM reboot the server, you can use the reboot
command to reboot the system at a specified time and warn users of
the impending reboot. See reboot(1M) for details.
For a detailed procedure to configure HP-UX for V-Class servers, see "Creating HP-UX Kernels for V-Class Servers".
Tuned parameter sets provide settings for collections of kernel parameters. Several different parameter sets are provided for configuring HP-UX for using your server in different situations. For example, the three types of V-Class server use listed in "Overview" are supported by parameter sets.
You can access tuned parameter sets through the "Actions" menu of SAM's
Configurable Parameters subarea. These sets also are stored as files in the
directory /usr/sam/lib/kc/tuned.
System administrators may list HP-UX kernel parameter settings using the
SAM utility (/usr/sbin/sam) or the kmtune utility (/usr/sbin/kmtune).
A complete list is provided through SAM's Configurable Parameters subarea.
Users who do not have root permission should use kmtune.
Running kmtune with no options lists all kernel parameters and their current
values. To list only specified kernel parameters use the -q option. For
example, kmtune -q vps_ceiling lists the the vps_ceiling
parameter's setting . See the kmtune(1M) man page for details.
Scientific and technical workloads have very large data sets and may have long processing times. Examples include NASTRAN, Abaqus, mechanical and electrical design applications, and fluid dynamics applications.
The "V-Class Technical Server" tuned parameter set provides HP-UX kernel parameter settings for running such workloads on HP V-Class servers.
The following are key kernel parameters for V-Class servers running scientific and technical workloads:
hfs_ra_per_disk and hfs_max_ra_blocks
maxdsiz and maxdsiz_64bit
maxssiz and maxssiz_64bit
vps_ceiling
vxfs_ra_per_disk and vxfs_max_ra_kbytes
These parameters are described below in Table 1.
HP-UX Parameter |
Recommended V-Class Technical Setting |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
64 |
Sets the amount of filesystem read-ahead (in kilobytes) for HFS filesystems. |
|
8 |
Places a ceiling on the maximum number of read-ahead blocks that the kernel may have outstanding for a single HFS filesystem. |
|
1342177280 (0x50000000 hexadecimal) |
Sets the maximum size (in bytes) of a 32-bit process's static data storage segment. |
|
17179869184 (0x400000000 hexadecimal) |
Sets the maximum size (in bytes) of a 64-bit process's static data storage segment. |
|
8388608 (0x800000 hexadecimal) |
Sets the maximum size (in bytes) of a 32-bit process's dynamic storage segment, also called the "stack size". |
|
1073741824 (0x40000000 hexadecimal) |
Sets the maximum size (in bytes) of a 64-bit process's dynamic storage segment, also called the "stack size". |
|
64 (0x40 hexadecimal) |
Sets the maximum page size (in kilobytes) that the kernel can select when it chooses a page size based on a system's configuration and the object size. |
|
1024 |
Sets the amount of filesystem read-ahead (in kilobytes) for VXFS filesystems. |
|
1024 |
Places a ceiling on the total amount of read-ahead (in kilobytes) a VXFS filesystem may have outstanding. |
Commercial workloads include Oracle, online transaction processing (OLTP) applications, decision support (DSS) applications, and other data processing applications.
Two tuned parameter sets are available in SAM for configuring HP-UX for running commercial workloads on V-Class servers. One parameter set ("OLTP/Database Server System") is useful on servers dedicated to running data processing applications only. The other set ("OLTP/Database Monolithic System") is for servers that not only run data processing applications but also run other miscellaneous programs and allow interactive user log-ins.
These two commercial configurations are described in the next sections.
The "OLTP/Database Server System" tuned parameter set provides a good HP-UX configuration for HP V-Class servers dedicated to running commercial data processing applications. These systems provide limited, if any, interactive user access.
Table 2 lists some of the key kernel parameter settings provided through the SAM utility's "OLTP/Database Server System" tuned parameter set.
HP-UX Parameter |
"OLTP/Database Server System" Setting |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Number of buffer pages. |
|
|
Maximum dynamic buffer cache size (% of memory). |
|
|
Minimum dynamic buffer cache size (% of memory). |
|
|
Maximum number of user processes. |
|
|
The |
|
|
Maximum number of processes. |
For HP V-Class servers running data processing applications as well as miscellaneous other applications, the "OLTP/Database Monolithic System" tuned parameter set provides a good HP-UX configuration. These systems may provide interactive log-ins for user access in addition to commercial OLTP/DSS application support.
Table 3 shows the key HP-UX parameter settings provided by the SAM utility's "OLTP/Database Monolithic System" tuned parameter set.
HP-UX Parameter |
"OLTP/Database Monolithic System" Setting |
Description |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Same as in Table 2. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This section has instructions for using SAM to configure HP-UX for HP V-Class servers.
An alternative to using SAM to modify a kernel is using the kmtune utility;
for kmtune information see kmtune(1).
/usr/sbin/sam.
Then enter the Configurable Parameters subarea:
Three basic configurations are recommended for HP V-Class servers, including:
See "Configuring a Mixed-Use Commercial Server" for more information.
See "Configuring a Dedicated Commercial Server" for more information.
See "Parameter Settings for V-Class Technical Workloads" for more information.
After SAM processes the new kernel, you are presented with the following options:
These options are described below.
kmupdate to cause the new kernel files to be moved into place
when the system reboots.
/stand/system to correspond to the current kernel.
When the system reboots the new kernel files are moved to the
standard locations (/stand/vmunix, /stand/dlkm) and are used
to boot the system.
Selecting "Do Not Move Kernel" causes the new kernel files to be left in
the directory /stand/build. The relevant files include the following:
vmunix_test--The new kernel file.
dlkm.vmunix_test--The directory containing dynamically
loadable kernel module files.
system.SAM--The new kernel description file.
You should not move these files, except as described in Step 5 below. The
new kernel files are required during the kmupdate kernel update process.
This step is not needed if you had SAM move the kernel into place and reboot.
You can schedule the new kernel files to be moved into place by using the
kmupdate utility and moving the new kernel description file into place.
kmupdate utility to schedule the new kernel to be used starting
the next time the system boots.
The following example shows the kmupdate command and output. For
details see the kmupdate(1M) man page.
#/usr/sbin/kmupdate /stand/build/vmunix_testKernel update request is scheduled.Default kernel /stand/vmunix will be updated bynewly built kernel /stand/build/vmunix_testat next system shutdown or startup time.
/stand/system, as shown in the
command line below.
# mv /stand/build/system.SAM /stand/system
It is highly recommended to move this file because some utilities expect
/stand/system to correspond to the current kernel.
This step is not needed if you had SAM move the kernel into place and reboot.
reboot command to reboot the system.
In the example below, the reboot command sets the system to reboot in
ten minutes and print a message. For details see the reboot(1M) man page.
# reboot -t +10 -m "Rebooting for kernel update."
Shutdown at 13:52 (in 10 minutes) [pid 1315]
*** System shutdown message from root@arete-e ***
System going down in 10 minutes
... Rebooting for kernel update.
When the system reboots, the new kernel files are moved into place and are used to boot the system, as shown by the following output.
HP-UX Start-up in progress
__________________________
Configure system crash dumps .............................. OK
Mount file systems ........................................ OK
Update kernel and loadable modules ........................
Reboot of system has been requested -- rebooting...
You can order print and CD documentation and can access free online HP-UX and HP V-Class server information, as described below.
To order copies of this or other HP documentation, call 1-800-227-8164.
To place an order from outside the United States, or if you cannot use the 1-800 number, call 415-857-2384. Please have the part number (xxxxx-xxxxx) and the exact title of the document available when ordering.
To obtain a document's order number, refer to the online version of the document from the following WWW site:
Additional ordering information is available from:
Free online versions of HP-UX V11.0 documentation are available from the following WWW site:
The above site also contains additional information about HP-UX V11.0 kernel parameter settings.
For hardware documentation, including V-Class information, refer to:
Print and CD versions of this documentation are available as described in the section "Ordering Documentation" above.
More information about the configurable parameters in Table 4 is available in the SAM online help (available from the Configurable Parameters subarea's Help menu) and from
Table 4 lists HP-UX kernel parameter names and descriptions.
Parameter Name |
Description |
|---|---|
NSTREVENT |
Max Number of Outstanding Streams bufcalls |
NSTRPUSH |
Max Number of Streams Modules in Single Stream |
NSTRSCHED |
Number of Streams Scheduler Daemons to Run |
STRCTLSZ |
Max Size of Streams Message Control (Bytes) |
STRMSGSZ |
Max Size of Streams Message Data (Bytes) |
acctresume |
Threshold to Resume Accounting |
acctsuspend |
Threshold to Suspend Accounting |
aio_listio_max |
Max No. of AIO Ops That Can Be Specified in lio_list Call |
aio_max_ops |
Maximum No. of AIO Ops That Can Be Queued At Any Time |
aio_physmem_pct |
Percentage of Physical Memory Lockable for Request Call-Back Operations |
aio_prio_delta_max |
Max Slowdown Factor; Greatest Delta Allowed in aiocb's aio_reqprio Field |
allocate_fs_swapmap |
Allocate Swapmap Space at swapon |
alwaysdump |
Bit-Mask of Kernel Memory Pages Included in Dumps |
bufcache_hash_locks |
Buffer Cache Spinlock Pool Size |
bufpages |
Number of Buffer Pages |
chanq_hash_locks |
Channel Queue Spinlock Pool Size |
create_fastlinks |
Create Fast Symbolic Links |
dbc_max_pct |
Max Dynamic Buffer Cache Size as Percent of System RAM Size |
dbc_min_pct |
Min Dynamic Buffer Cache Size as Percent of System RAM Size |
default_disk_ir |
Immediate Report (Write Cache Enable) Behavior for SCSI Disks |
dontdump |
Bit-Mask of Kernel Memory Pages Excluded From Dumps |
dskless_node |
Diskless Node Flag |
dst |
Daylight Savings Time Policy |
eqmemsize |
Minimum Number of Equivalently Mapped Memory Pages on the Reserve List |
fs_async |
Select Asynchronous Writes |
ftable_hash_locks |
File Table Spinlock Pool Size |
hfs_max_ra_blocks |
Maximum Number of Read-ahead Blocks for a Single HFS Filesystem |
hfs_ra_per_disk |
Filesystem Read-ahead (KBytes) for HFS Filesystems |
initmodmax |
Max No. of Kernel Modules Saved By System Crash Dump |
io_ports_hash_locks |
I/O Ports Spinlock Pool Size |
ksi_alloc_max |
System-wide Limit of Queued Signal That Can be Allocated |
ksi_send_max |
Max No. of Queued Signals a Process May Send and Have Pending at Receiver(s) |
max_async_ports |
Maximum Number of asyncdsk Ports That Can be Open At One Time |
max_fcp_reqs |
Maximum Number of Concurrent Fiber Channel Requests Per Adapter |
max_thread_proc |
Max No. of Threads Allowed in Each Process |
maxdsiz |
Max Data Segment Size (Bytes) |
maxdsiz_64bit |
Max Data Segment Size (Bytes) |
maxfiles |
Soft File Limit Per Process |
maxfiles_lim |
Hard File Limit Per Process |
maxssiz |
Max Stack Segment Size (Bytes) |
maxssiz_64bit |
Max Stack Segment Size (Bytes) |
maxswapchunks |
Max Number of Swap Chunks |
maxtsiz |
Max Text Segment Size (Bytes) |
maxtsiz_64bit |
Max Text Segment Size (Bytes) |
maxuprc |
Max Number of User Processes |
maxusers |
Value of MAXUSERS Macro |
maxvgs |
Max Number of Volume Groups |
mesg |
Enable Sys V Messages |
modstrmax |
Max Size (Bytes) of Kernel-Module Savecrash Table |
msgmap |
Max Number of Message Map Entries |
msgmax |
Message Max Size (bytes) |
msgmnb |
Max Number of Bytes on Message Queue |
msgmni |
Number of Message Queue Identifiers |
msgseg |
Number of Segments Available for Messages |
msgssz |
Message Segment Size |
msgtql |
Number of Message Headers |
nbuf |
Number of Buffer Cache Headers |
ncallout |
Max Number of Pending Timeouts |
ncdnode |
Max Number of Open CDFS Files |
nclist |
Number of cblocks for pty and tty Data Transfers |
ndilbuffers |
Number of DIL Buffers |
nfile |
Max Number of Open Files |
nflocks |
Max Number of File Locks |
ninode |
Max Number of Open Inodes |
nkthread |
Max Number of Kernel Threads Supported by the System |
no_lvm_disks |
Boolean; Set Only If System Has No LVM Disks |
nproc |
Max Number of Processes |
npty |
Number of ptys (Pseudo ttys) |
nstrpty |
Max Number of Streams-Based PTYs |
nstrtel |
Number of Telnet Session Device Files |
nswapdev |
Max Devices That Can be Enabled for Swap |
nswapfs |
Max File Systems That Can be Enabled for Swap |
num_tachyon_adapters |
Number of Tachyon-based Fiber Channel Adapters in the System |
o_sync_is_o_dsync |
Enable/Disable Translation of O_SYNC to O_DSYNC in open(2)/fcntl(2) Calls |
page_text_to_local |
Enable/Disable Swapping of Program Text Segments to Local Swap |
pfdat_hash_locks |
Pfdat Spinlock Pool Size |
public_shlibs |
Public Shared Libraries |
region_hash_locks |
Region Spinlock Pool Size |
remote_nfs_swap |
Enable Swapping Across NFS |
rtsched_numpri |
Number of POSIX.1b Realtime Priorities to Support |
scroll_lines |
Number of ITE Off Screen Lines |
sema |
Enable Sys V Semaphores |
semaem |
Max Value for Adjust on Exit Semaphores |
semmap |
Max Number of Semaphore Map Entries |
semmni |
Number of Semaphore Identifiers |
semmns |
Max Number of Semaphores |
semmnu |
Number of Semaphore Undo Structures |
semume |
Semaphore Undo Entries Per Process |
semvmx |
Semaphore Maximum Value |
sendfile_max |
Max No. of Buffer Cache Pages Usable by sendfile System Call |
shmem |
Enable Sys V Shared Memory |
shmmax |
Max Shared Mem Segment (Bytes) |
shmmni |
Number of Shared Memory Identifiers |
shmseg |
Shared Memory Segments Per Process |
streampipes |
Force All Pipes to be Streams-Based |
swapmem_on |
Allow Memory to Exceed Swap Space |
swchunk |
Swap Chunk Size (1K Blocks) |
sysv_hash_locks |
System V IPC Spinlock Pool Size |
tcphashsz |
TCP Hash Table Size, in Bytes |
timeslice |
Scheduling Interval (10 mS Ticks) |
timezone |
Minutes West of Greenwich |
unlockable_mem |
Non-Lockable Memory (4096-Byte Pages) |
vnode_cd_hash_locks |
Vnode Clean/Dirty Spinlock Pool Size |
vnode_hash_locks |
Vnode Spinlock Pool Size |
vps_ceiling |
Maximum System-Selected Page Size (in Kbytes) |
vps_chatr_ceiling |
Maximum chatr-Selected Page Size (in Kbytes) |
vps_pagesize |
Default User Page Size (in Kbytes) |
vxfs_max_ra_kbytes |
Total Amount of Read-ahead (KBytes) a VXFS Filesystem may have Outstanding |
vxfs_ra_per_disk |
Filesystem Read-ahead (KBytes) for VXFS Filesystems |
vx_ncsize |
Directory Name Lookup Cache (DNLC) Space Needed for VxFS Inodes |